wednesday love

Link up with Jamie!

Hey y'all! It's been busy around the Miller Maison with work, friend time, family visits, summer fun, etc. I'm taking a quick time-out to bring you a few Wednesday loves.

{memories}

Last week I was working in Tuscaloosa- a place near and dear to my heart as many of you know. I got to visit a few of my favorite restaurants- Hooligan's (aka Shenanigan's), City Cafe, etc. Things move at a slower pace during the summer in Tuscaloosa, and it was nice to stroll around campus without so many students and the craziness of football season. I have so many wonderful memories associated with that town and that University, and I love that work takes me there occasionally. I'm loving that during my time there, I also got to catch up with my dear friend Ashley. We had dinner at Chuck's (another favorite) and attended a beer tasting at Carpe Vino. And to top it off, I received an adorable picture frame as a very thoughtful belated birthday prezzie!

{date night}

I'm loving that last week we also got to have an adult date night with Candace and Jonathan. We headed over to Mafiaoza's (delicious pizza) to meet up with some other friends, drink some local brew, and listen to Andy play. Such a fun evening!

{summer color}

I'm loving that summer makes it okay to wear bright colors. I've been trying to mix in some fun colors to my professional attire. A little pop of color just brightens my day!

{backyard paradise}

I'm loving that not only did my mom come visit this past weekend, but we also got to spend some time in the Strickland's backyard paradise. The sunshine and company were great, but I especially loved getting to see these kiddos!

{eye candy}

I'm loving that Mr. M and I finally got to see "21 Jump Street"! I love anything with Channing Tatum, but this movie was even more hilarious than I expected. I considered it a little Channing appetizer in preparation for the premiere of "Magic Mike" this coming weekend!

{magnet}

I'm loving my new FREE picture magnet. I order prints from Shutterfly, and they constantly send me great deals. This was the latest Shutterfly deal, and it's perfect for posting summer wedding invitations!

wilw

Link up with Jamie!

It's Wednesday, and these are a few current loves:


{candle}
My sweet friend Calley gave me this candle recently. Not only is it made right here in Alabama, but it smells divine! I'm loving burning it every evening when I cozy up with a good book.

{Scentsy}
Speaking of home fragrances, y'all know I'm a loyal Scentsy customer. I just restocked my inventory. Rio Beach is always a summer favorite, but I'm loving the new scent Tingnanello.

{tomatoes}

I'm loving the endless supply of homegrown tomatoes coming at me from all directions this time of year. These are some from Granddaddy's garden and they always seem to be the best!

{hot&hot}

via

Last night Mr. M and I had dinner with 3 very dear friends at Hot & Hot Fish Club. This local restaurant has long been one of our favorites, but we have not been to eat there since Chef Chris Hastings won the James Beard Award or beat Bobby Flay at Iron Chef America. As always we had a WONDERFUL meal: gazpacho, tomato salad, fried okra, scallops, desserts, etc. The thing I'm loving most about our meal (besides the wonderful company) was the William's Old Fashioned signature summer cocktail. I'm not a huge fan of bourbon, but this was the smoothest bourbon drink I think I've ever tasted and the grilled peaches were an amazing combination.

Last but not least, I'm also loving that Chef Hastings came and spent a few minutes visiting with our table. He was so funny and humble about all of his success, and I loved the Alabama/LSU national championship jokes he made when discussing his Iron Chef victory over Bobby Flay (Chef Flay hails from cajun country).

{mjh}
Y'all know about my girl crush on Melissa Joan Hart. Well, I'm loving the news article I read this morning announcing that she will have a memoir coming out this fall. Another addition to my "must read" list!

Happy Hump Day!!!

bookworm

This post goes out to all my fellow nerdybirds in the blogosphere who love to read. I've recently discovered the site Good Reads, and I'm obsessed. I can spend hours on there reading reviews and adding to my "must read" list. The site has synopsis information, critic reviews, and real people reviews. Plus, if you have "friends" on the site, you can follow what your friends are reading and find out about their likes and dislikes. Sadly, as much as I love doing research on the site, I have virtually no friends right now. If any of you enjoy reading and decide to create a profile, please add me as a friend so we can bounce book ideas off one another. Right now, my books are mostly just a list of what I've read and what I want to read, but I plan to start leaving more detailed reviews in the future as I finish each book.

I just finished:

As a girl who lists Cold Sassy Tree, The Help, and To Kill a Mockingbird at the top of her favorites, I adored this book. There were times I laughed and times I wanted to cry. Such a good Southern novel, and after so much light reading lately, it was good to read a book with some substance. Highly recommend!
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Must-read for anyone who loves Southern fiction! Happy, sad, funny, heart-warming!



View all my reviews



Now from a Southern novel to.....
Yes, save your judgment for somewhere else. Despite all of my skepticism, I just started reading "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter". Yeah, I'm a little embarrassed...but I do have to admit that the author wastes no time grabbing your attention. You see, several coworkers have told me how good this book is, but I never thought I'd actually read it. In fact, I made several jokes about how dumb the title sounded and how silly the book must be. And don't even get me started on the movie. Then, Mr. M had to go and bring this home from Barnes and Noble. I think in the beginning even he was reading it as a joke...but then something unexpected happened. He actually really liked it and wouldn't stop talking about it. So I gave in to curiosity, thinking that if this was a novel that Mr. M would actually read (he primarily only reads humor books- think Tucker Maxx's I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell) then it MUST be decent. So there- I said it. I'm reading the dumb Abe Lincoln vampire book that everyone makes fun of. I'll let you know how it turns out.

And on my "to-read" list very soon:

What are you guys reading? Have you come across something you love? Or something you hate?

misc monday

Link up with Carissa!

{dallas}
I had a nice visit to the Big D last week for work, which is surprising because I was there for a public speaking class. Translation- public speaking is basically vomit-inducing and hive-producing for me. Yeah, to say that I'm not a fan is a gross understatment. Much to my surprise, I actually really enjoyed the class and had some fun in the afternoons/evenings with my coworkers. I met a coworker from Salt Lake City who is also obsessed with Miz Spears and lives for Ben & Jerry's... perhaps he's a long lost soul mate? In true phone dump fashion, here are a few Happy Hour snapshots and whatnot from the week.

{flashback}
I found this in my wallet on Friday last week. I had completely forgoten that this little gem was tucked away in an unused pocket. One of Mr. M's senior portraits- is there any wonder why I fell for this studmuffin so many years ago? And how fitting that I stumbled across it just before we headed "home" for his 10 year reunion?

{reunite}
We had so much fun at Mr. M's 10 year reunion this weekend. The girls did such a great job decorating for the events, and they had a great turnout (for a class of 30 anyway). It was great to see some old faces, and I think the husby thoroughly enjoyed himself. Just a few photos from the weekend:

Have a good Monday!

thankful thursday

I realized that I never posted anything about my birthday trip to the beach. To be honest, I didn't take a ton of pictures because I somehow forgot my real camera and only had my phone. But like I've said a thousand times, this blog is a bit of a scrapbook for me, so I wanted to be sure and at least document the high points of the trip. My mother-in-law's birthday is the day before mine, and she suggested that we take a family beach trip to celebrate both. Of course, I happily obliged, and because my family lives near the coast now, I also got to see them as well! It was such a fun trip, and I'm so thankful to have such an amazing family!

Pre-beach pedi

We couldn't have asked for better weather, and this is how I spent the majority of the trip. I wanted an easy beach read while sitting on the sand. Mary Kay Andrews never disappoints with her super cute novels set in various southern towns. One of her recent bestsellers, "Summer Rental " was no different. Light and fun- it's a great book for the pool or beach.

In-laws cutting a rug at Florabama. Such lovebirds.

My sister-in-law Brooke and her bf Michael

The world famous Florabama Bushwhackers

Sweet husby

It's not a beach trip without some Tacky Jack's

He's so silly.

The water was the clearest and bluest I've ever seen it at the Gulf, and the boys enjoyed it thoroughly. Gorgeous!

More beach lounging

All hail Bethenny! My newest obsession.

More Florabama fun!

Birthday Dinner at Cobalt

Anyone recognize the location of my late night date with Mr. M?

Always a good idea to pick up t0-go gumbo from Original Oyster House to be enjoyed once back home.

It was without a doubt another fun family trip that won't soon be forgotten!